Ultrahigh Modulation Enhancement in All-Optical Si-Based THz Modulators Integrated with Gold Nanobipyramids.

ABSTRACT

Optical regulation strategy with the aid of hybrid materials can significantly optimize the performance of terahertz devices. Gold nanobipyramids (AuNBPs) with synthetical tunability to the near-infrared band show strong local field enhancement, which improves optical coupling at the interface and benefits the modulation performance. We design AuNBPs-integrated terahertz modulators with multiple structured surfaces and demonstrate that introducing AuNBPs can effectively enhance their modulation depths. In particular, an ultrahigh modulation enhancement of 1 order of magnitude can be achieved in the AuNBPs hybrid metamaterials accompanied by the multifunctional modulation characteristics. By application of the coupled Lorentz oscillator model, the theoretical calculation suggests that the optical regulation with AuNBPs originates from increased damping rate and higher coupling coefficient under pump excitation. Additionally, a terahertz spatial light modulator is constructed to demonstrate multiple imaging display and consume extremely low power, which is promising for the potential application in spatial and frequency selective imaging.